“Look before you leap for as you sow, ye are like to reap” – Samuel Butler
In retrospect, maybe that wasn’t such a great legal maneuver…
Philip IV of France (1268-1314 A.D.), was often referred to as Philip the Fair, which had very little to do with any inclination towards justice and equity, rather his stunning good looks by the standards of the High Middle Ages. In fact, his reign was largely characterized by an impressive litany of double-crosses, attempts to consolidate the absolute power of the monarchy, starting a fight with Pope Boniface VIII, angling to put his relatives on a variety of foreign thrones, expelling the Jews, and annihilating the Knights Templar. A 13th Century monarch being a decidedly untrustworthy and unpleasant shit is not especially remarkable. Now, kings get the lion’s share of air time in history, because, well, they were kings and people want to…
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Kate McClelland 